1. Technical Field
This invention relates to electronic sound cards and, more particularly, to a programmable sound card for an electronic device which includes at least one read-only detection device connected to a circuit board of an electronic apparatus, an event detection sampling device in information transmission connection with the read-only detection devices, a programmable event occurrence information signal computing device connected to the event detection sampling device, a read/write audio signal storage memory device in information transmission connection with the computing device and an audio signal output device for transferring the audio signals to a sound-producing device such as a speaker.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Slot machines and video poker machines continue to be the most widely used types of gaming devices found in the gaming industry. The oldest slot machines and video poker machines were relatively simple devices which included little in the way of sound generating devices, commonly including only a bell or buzzer to signify a winning combination on the reels. With the advent of new technology in the gaming industry, the slot machines and video poker machines were now able to produce a variety of pre-programmed sounds through the use of computer chip technology. These chips are most often constructed as integral parts of the gaming device and are programmed at the factory to produce a limited number of sounds in response to events such as a winning combination coming up on the reels. The sounds produced by the machine can be of high quality through the use of efficient loudspeaker systems.
In spite of the use of such new technology, one of the major disadvantages found in the prior art regarding the sounds produced by the slot machine has gone unaddressed. Specifically, because the chips are programmed by the factory, the sound produced by the machine cannot be changed by the customer, i.e., the casino. The sounds produced by the gaming device thus are always the same, and the gaming public may lose interest in play of the machine due to the lack of any changes in the output of the machine when winning combinations are produced. It is important to understand that on most machines the sound information and the payout tables are programmed on the same chip. If a user of the gaming device wishes to modify the sounds produced by the machine, the chip containing the sound bytes must be "reburned" or reprogrammed by the factory or the casino. The reprogramming of the chip, however, will mandate review and testing of the chip by an independent testing laboratory and by the state gaming commission to confirm that nothing on the chip was modified except for the sounds themselves. Obviously, if retesting of the chip each time the smallest change in sound produced by the chip is necessary, no casino location will wish to go through the process due to the length of time involved. There is, therefore, a need for a sound-producing device for inclusion in a gaming device which is capable of being quickly and easily reprogrammed to produce a different sound in response to a particular event occurrence, and which does not require retesting by an agent of the gaming commission each time a new sound is included.
It is thus seen that a disadvantage of the prior art is that the sound-producing devices found in gaming devices cannot be modified by the casino to produce alternative sounds. However, it is a further disadvantage of the prior art that the sound-generating devices on all but the newest machines are often technologically insufficient to produce such sounds as human speech and difficult-to-reproduce sounds. It therefore may be desirable to enhance the sound-producing capabilities of the gaming device by "adding on" a more sophisticated sound card. Due to restrictive gaming regulations, however, any such add-on sound card would have to be incapable of influencing the outcome probabilities of the gaming device, thus requiring a type of read-only detection means for detecting specific event occurrences on the electronic circuit board or the reels of the gaming device. At present, such read-only detection devices are not found in the prior art, as most, if not all, of the sound-producing devices found in the prior art are integrated into the gaming device and such read-only detection devices are not necessary. With the rapid improvement in sound cards, however, the need for non-intrusive read-only detection devices for use in combination with an add-on sound card has arisen. There is therefore a need for such a read-only detection device used in combination with an add-on sound card.
One of the most recent innovations in gaming is the multi-machine jackpot, such as Quartermania, Megabucks and Cool Millions. In these games, a bank of gaming machines are connected to one another in information transmission connection such that coin input at each of the machines adds to an overall jackpot which can be hit on the any of the machines in the group. These wide-area progressive games have acted to increase game play thus increasing the handle of the casino. The disadvantage to such wide-area progressive games is that the casino is again prevented from modifying the sound output of the machine when a jackpot or other winning combination is achieved. The casino may desire to formulate its own location-specific games, such as treasure hunts or other such games, in which the treasure would be "found" by a specific reel combination turning up on the machine. Should such a reel combination come up on the machine, the player would be notified by casino-specific sounds emanating from the machine. It also may be desirable to have "treasure hunts" between multiple casino locations having wide-area progressive games, but again the sounds emitted by the machine must be modified to reflect the new game play. Obviously, the sounds included in the machine from the factory are not designed with this type of option in mind, and it would be necessary for the casino to be able to interrupt the ordinary sound production of the gaming device and substitute its own desired sound output for particular event occurrences. It is believed that the variety offered by such sound variations will significantly increase "coin in" on the various machines due to the heightened interest in the modified games.
Another disadvantage found in those devices representative of the prior art is that the when an update of sound produced is desired, the chip carrying the sounds must be reprogrammed or "reburned". As was stated previously, on many machines the sound wave files are played by the same chip that controls the payouts and pay tables for the machine. Therefore, each time the chip is reprogrammed to issue new sounds, the modified chip must be retested by an independent laboratory and the state authorities. Obviously, a casino organization which has invested millions of dollars in slot machines does not wish to lose the use of the slots for a period of time during testing each time the sounds produced by the machine are modified. There is therefore a need for an easily updatable and reprogrammable sound-producing device for use in slot machines and the like that will increase the usable life span of the slot machine and, more importantly, require only a single round of testing when initially added to the machine.
There are several examples of devices in machines proposed in the prior art which attempt to increase the amount of "coin in" by increasing interest in the games. For example, Nishikawa, U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,399, discloses a device for generating an impact sound for a slot machine, the device intentionally producing an impact sound when reels start to be rotated by motors. Clearly, however, this device cannot be modified in any meaningful way to produce a variety of sounds and thus its application to the gaming industry is limited.
A different approach to increasing interest in gaming is taken by Takemoto, et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,472,195 and 5,375,830, which disclose, respectively, a display system at a game machine island and a slot machine comprising a plurality of liquid crystal displays. It is important to note that each of these inventions emphasize the visual aspects of the gaming devices in order to promote increased game play, but only addresses in standard fashion the auditory aspects of the gaming experience. Note that each of the devices includes only a simple sound card or a sound-producing device, and thus neither of the Takemoto inventions address the problem of reprogrammability presently found in the prior art.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved sound-producing device for use in casino gaming machines.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a programmable sound-producing device for an electronic apparatus which includes at least one read-only detection device adapted for connection to an electronic apparatus which is operative to detect selected event occurrences on the electronic apparatus and output event occurrence notification signals upon detection of an event.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a programmable sound-producing device for an electronic apparatus which includes an event detection sampling device in information transmission connection with the detection devices, the event detection sampling device operative to receive and detect the event occurrence notification signals from the detection devices, analyze the signals and output information specifying which events have occurred on the electronic apparatus circuit board.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a programmable sound-producing device for an electronic apparatus which includes a programmable event occurrence information signal computing device in information transmission connection with the event detection sampling device, the computing device operative to receive and analyze event occurrence information signals output by the event detection sampling device and upon detection of selected event occurrence information signals, output sound generation command signals for initiating generation of selected sounds by the programmable sound-producing device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a programmable sound-producing device for an electronic apparatus which includes a read/write audio signal storage memory device in information transmission connection with the programmable event occurrence information signal computing device, the memory device operative to store audio signals in retrievable form and output those audio signals in response to reception of sound generation command signals.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a programmable sound-producing device for an electronic apparatus which may be quickly and easily reprogrammed by the casino itself to generate a different array of sounds in response to the same reel combinations turning up on the machine.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a programmable sound-producing device for an electronic apparatus which may be "added-on" to already existing gaming devices to enable the potentially outdated machine to be reinvigorated by production of an alternative group of sounds by the machine.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a programmable sound-producing device for an electronic apparatus, particularly a casino gaming device, which is capable of sampling event occurrences on the circuit board of the gaming device that is clearly incapable of influencing the outcome of any gaming event in the gaming device, thus permitting the sound-producing device to be added to gaming machines while requiring only a single inspection by a gaming commission. Future sound modifications will not require reinspection by the gaming commission.
Finally, another object of the present invention is to provide a programmable sound-producing device for an electronic apparatus which is durable in construction and safe and efficient in use.